The Englighted One - Thus who seeks truth

Liora washed her face with water flowing out of the tap. When she looked in the mirror, reflecting in there was an expressionless face and a blank stare like a doll. That face was her own face.

The girl was not really like this. She was filling her childhood with joy and laughter. But not a single trace of those times remained in the Liora of today. Those who once knew the girl will always wonder. Regarding the significant changes that happened to her.

It all started 9 years ago — a terrible tragedy that changed the lives of many people. ‘Virtual Death Game’.

A tragedy trapping five hundred thousand people in a full dive VR game. Death in the game means death in the real world, forcibly waking the player up. It is not freedom that welcomes, but death.

The only way to freedom is to beat the game. But. Even with such an obvious goal. Instead of working together. Everyone is drowning in their own desires.

Ego and interest blinded every player, because of which one third of the five hundred thousand people had to lose their lives. Those who survived were not faring much better.

Being outcasts, a small portion of two third decide to end their suffering. Some went mad, unable to distinguish dreams from reality.

A small portion, not even 1% can return to life in society. Unfortunately, that one percent doesn’t include Liora, but she is still sane enough to keep trying to live. Even though all she feels is dissonance.

After surviving the ‘Virtual Death Game’, Liora cannot look at the world with the same sparkling eyes as she once did. The cruel reality has tainted the pure heart of the dreamy little girl.

The only reason Liora can still live with all these complex feelings is because of one question. ‘Why?’

His heart was not empty. The fire of revenge that demanded the truth burned endlessly. Until all the fog of lies dissipates, extinguishing the fire is impossible.

Her reverie is being cracked by a cellphone noise. Reaching for the cellphone in the pocket of her skirt. Liora stared at the name of the caller. The name listed belonged to her younger sister.

Without thinking, Liora turned off her phone’s power. Then she put her phone back into her skirt pocket. Taking the hanging towel, she wiped her face and went out of the bathroom. She still has work to complete today.

                                                                                 ***

“Sorry, the number you are calling is out of reach. Please try again later.” Hearing her call answered by the operator’s automated message, the blonde girl’s face filled with worry.

The girl was Amaya Vernhart, Liora’s younger sister. For her, her older sister was her light. Someone who was always by her side. Someone who was irreplaceable.

But, all that changed. Since the day Liora was free from the terrible game that trapped her for 3 years. Since then, her sister was no longer the same. Empty eyes, expressionless face. Her sister seemed to have changed into a different person.

Amaya wanted to see her sister’s smiling face once again. She missed her sister’s cheerful laughter.

“Miss Amelia!” a voice called from behind the door, interrupting Amaya’s reverie.

“The recording for today’s music video will start soon.”

“Yeah, wait a minute!” Amaya replied. There was no trace of gloom in her voice at all. Amelia is the stage name that Amaya uses as an idol.

In desperation to find a way for her sister to smile again, Amaya became an idol. For her, an idol is a star who brings hope to many people.

If she can move the hearts of many people with her performances and singing, then she hopes. One day, she will knock on the door of her sister’s tightly closed heart. Although currently there are still no obvious results.

Looking in the mirror, Amaya checked her makeup. There were no problems. She also did a quick check of her outfit. The festive dress with lots of pink lace looked just as cute as when she first saw the design on paper.

Amaya then grabbed a star-shaped hair clip that was in a box on her dressing table. The accessory was a birthday present from her sister. Although it was just a cheap item bought at a knick-knack shop. For Amaya, the price of the item was immeasurable.

Amaya looked in the mirror once more. Closing her eyes, a smile spread across her lips. Her open eyes looked like the night sky, stars adorned in them. The gentle atmosphere she had before had changed with the confident aura of an idol, full of charisma.

Amelia turned the doorknob, stepping towards the place where she would once again bring smiles to people’s hearts.

                                                                                    ***

After finishing her night shift, Liora changed her work uniform into her everyday clothes. Long black pants and a white t-shirt, taking her urban jacket that was hanging in her locker.

After zipping up her jacket tightly, Liora locked her locker door. Putting on her shoes and walked out through the back door of the cafe. A quiet alley connected to the back of the cafe. A perfect place for Liora, who hated crowds.

Walking at a pace that was neither slow nor fast, Liora didn’t even bother to pay attention to her surroundings.

Stopping right at the edge of the zebra crossing, Liora looked up to see the traffic light before crossing. The previously green traffic light turned red. One by one, cars passed in front of Liora.

It looked like he was going to be stuck on this side of the road for a little longer.

“Hey…” a voice called out to her from the side. Since Liora was completely unfamiliar with the voice, she ignored it.

“Oi, Liora Vernhart!” an unknown voice called her name, which made Liora reflexively look at the source of the sound. What appeared in her sight was a girl wearing a sailor uniform.

Before Liora could ask who the girl was.

The girl in the sailor uniform asked, “If you could have a wish granted, no matter how impossible it is,” the girl stared intently into Liora’s eyes.

“What would you ask for?”

Liora felt like she had to answer the girl’s question. Liora didn’t really like interacting with anyone. To her, everyone around her was just a wolf in sheep’s clothing who would prey on her when she let her guard down.

Because of that, Liora, who usually would immediately shoo away strangers who approached her roughly. But right now, not even a bit of that crossed her mind.

“The truth…” Liora answered shortly, not intending to explain further. It didn’t matter if it confused the girl in front of her.

Contrary to Liora’s intentions, the sailor-uniformed girl was confused. She heard Liora’s answer and smiled faintly. Then she stretched out her right hand, which was holding a card.

As if something was pushing her, Liora took the card the girl handed over. Engraved on the back cover of the card was a symbol that Liora recognized. The card in her hand was a card from the popular card game, Guide Rise.

As if she had completed her task, the sailor-uniformed girl took a step back, curtsied to Liora. Then turned and stepped out into the street, just as Liora was about to chase after the girl.

A moving truck was about to hit the girl, but, strangely enough. No collision occurred. The girl in the sailor uniform mysteriously disappeared without a trace.

Liora tried to digest the strange phenomenon that had just happened in front of her. Before her imagination could fly anywhere, Liora stopped herself from overthinking.

Instead, Liora turned her attention to the card the girl had given her.

Inside the card was a clear illustration. A white-haired female wizard holding a magic book, with a background of bookshelves, depicting a library.

“Truth Scholar, Dorothy…” written on the front of the card.

Sighing, Liora kept the card in her jacket pocket. Not a single thought crossed her mind to throw the card away.

Crossing the zebra crossing, Liora took her cellphone. After pressing the button for a while, her cellphone finally turned back on.

In the notification, it’s clearly visible 50 missed calls from her sister. Sighing, Liora intended to call her sister back. She wanted her sister to stop calling her.

But just before she dialed her sister’s number, another call came from her sister. Liora picked it up without thinking.

“What’s wrong?” Liora asked, not a hint of warmth in her voice.

                                                                                     ***

Amaya held the phone in her hand, still hoping that her sister would pick up the phone. With a gloomy face, she continued to hope.

“What’s wrong?” until finally the voice she missed came from her phone’s speaker. Amaya didn’t care how cold the tone she heard was. All she could think about right now was the fact that her sister answering her phone call. And that was enough to make her happy.

“Good evening, sister!” Amaya cannot hide her excitement in her voice.

“It’s nothing,” Amaya answered with a somewhat childish choice of words. She sounded more spoiled than usual. “Amaya just misses big sister a little.”

“I see…” hearing Amaya’s answer, Liora tried her best to hold back the annoyance in her heart. But she also didn’t want to hide it.

“Don’t call if it’s not important.”

“I’m sorry, Amaya, sis.” Hearing her sister’s words filled with annoyance, Amaya could only lower her head.

“Bye.” Liora briefly hung up the phone call.

Amaya sighed. Once again, all that happened was empty conversation. Her sister wouldn’t let Amaya get even a little closer to the door of his heart. If this continued, knocking on that door would never be more than a dream.

“Hey, if I win. Granting my wish would be possible, right?” Asked Amaya seriously of the figure floating behind her. A stark contrast to the spoiled tone she had used earlier.

“Yes, of course,” replied the figure, which was none other than a floating polar bear doll. “The winner may claim any wish.”

“Is that so…?” Amaya stretched her arms. “Then, this tournament called Desire Battle. I’m in.”

“Thank you for accepting this invitation, Amaya Vernhart.”

On Amaya’s dressing table, a card engraved with the Guide Rise symbol lay face down.